Bud v. Booze

If you’re looking to party, Reno usually has options. We’re in the minority of states where a night out can legally include sampling the newest beers at a local brewpub, or chomping down on an edible or passing a pre-rolled joint around with your friends—provided you’re not in public. But cannabis and alcohol are two very different substances, with different cultures and applications. So, when it comes to deciding which one to partake of, it’s best to go with an expert opinion. We asked local bartenders and budtenders about their consumption preferences in order to answer the question: weed or booze, which is better?

Kris Sorensen

bartender at Pignic Pub & Patio

What’s your favorite product that you serve?

Rum is my favorite because it’s a great value. It’s underappreciated and it has a lot of complexity, and I very much appreciate the aging and the taste, and the profiles and all kinds of things that go along with it. I’m really partial to Eldorado, and I also like Plantation.

Which goes better with food, weed or booze?

I’d definitely say alcohol, just because alcohol has a flavor [and] palette-based experience. Whether you’re matching with wine or beer, there’s complimentary flavor profiles to taste, compare, contrast, sweet, sour, savory—the whole nines. Whereas, perhaps, I don’t know … I don’t think of marijuana in the sense that consuming it would pair well, because it’s not technically—although it has a flavor, it’s not like a tangible flavor.

Which goes better with music?

I would say both, because marijuana would open up a different channel of perception. And I know that from personal experience. There’s times when, if I’ve consumed marijuana, I definitely heard things in songs that I have not heard before—lyrics. I appreciated things like, “Whoa, how many times have I heard that song? And I just caught that lyric and now it makes sense.” And then on the flip side, if you’re drinking red wine, I think red wine can be very introspective and can be very opening as well.

Which one’s worse to have too much of?

Alcohol. Hands down. You don’t get too bad of a marijuana hangover. Just the half-life, depending on how you’re consuming it and the amount that you’re consuming it, generally the half-life is a lot shorter. Whereas alcohol, the acetaldehyde and corn sugar, the lingering effects of alcohol lasts much longer.

What’s the best type of customer?

A happy one. And same for a bartender, which I’m definitely guilty of not always being the happiest bartender, but I would definitely say a happy bartender is one of the best customers you can have. The worst?

The angry one. And I don’t mean to simplify that, but I think it’s that simple. Someone who’s very upset, whether they’ve had a horrible day and then they’re projecting or taking things out on you or other customers, and they become over emotional or violent.

Which is better for a night out?

I think alcohol because alcohol is proactive. For me personally, I think when you drink alcohol … you want to go out, do things, get things done. Whereas, a lot of my friends who may consume marijuana, depending on the strain—and now we have to talk terpenes and all this other stuff—I think marijuana tends to be a little more focused.

Heather Knight

bartender at Brewer’s Cabinet

What’s your favorite product that you serve?

My favorite cocktail that we have is our Apple Cinnamon Mule. So, we do an Apple cinnamon whiskey and then, kind of, turn it into a Moscow mule. So, it’s kind of like a winter mule, which I think is really nice.

Which goes better with food, weed or booze?

I would rather smoke [before dinner]. I deal with drunk people all day long, like the last thing I want to do is go home and get drunk myself. I want to like, relax, and not amplify any stress that I have in my life. … If I’m going to go out and eat, I would definitely say alcohol even if weed were an option.

Which goes better with music?

I have to say weed. I get the worst hangovers known to mankind, so I don’t necessarily pair alcohol with the greatest times. I pair it with the headache that I’ll have tomorrow, and I don’t get that with weed. I would rather go home, chill, listen to some music, get high—like, listen to the music.

Which one’s worse to have too much of?

Both. They’re equally bad. Especially in public … if you’re too drunk in public, you’re probably going to start throwing up or sleeping in a bar. If you’re too high, you’re going to go to sleep.

What’s the best type of customer?

We have a lot of really awesome regulars who I probably see more than I see my family. … I mean, they know what’s going on in our lives. They know when we go on vacation, we come back and they want to see pictures. … They are nice, they’re caring, they’re never demanding or like, you know, people that snap their fingers and, “excuse me.” I might have you wait an extra minute for your beer.

The worst?

I think people who seat themselves are probably, I mean [in the Brewer’s Cabinet tasting room] it’s fine because we do want you to seat yourselves, but most restaurants or bars are going to have some kind of sign that says what to do.

Which is better for a night out?

If you’re going out with your friends, you’re going to go do whatever—probably drink.

Weed to me is a relaxant, where, if I’m going to go out—I mean, I don’t think I would need anything to go out with my friends and have fun.

Kat Ryan

bartender at Ferino Distillery

What’s your favorite product that you serve?

I’m going to go ahead and give us a pat on the back and I’m going to say the stuff that we make here. We distill Amaros and Fernets. I really like our Amaro.

Which goes better with food, weed or booze?

If I’m eating alone, marijuana, because you get the munchies and you’re, like, stuffing old spaghetti inside of, like, a two day old crunch wrap you’ve had in your fridge and it’s awesome and it tastes great. If I’m out with people, definitely alcohol because it pairs well with things. You can savor it. You can, like, compare the notes of the food with the flavor of the alcohol.

Which goes better with music?

I’m going to say marijuana, only because when I have too much alcohol and listen to music, you just get really emotional—which is cool. I like that. At times it can make you really happy or really sad. … I’m sure everybody has done this, but the last time I got really high I listened to a whole Animal Collective album and it sounded so different than ever before. And just laying there and being like, “Oh my God, I can, like, taste these sounds.”

Which one’s worse to have too much of?

I’m one of those people that, I hit a certain level, and I just can’t drink anymore, and so I’m fine. Marijuana, I’ve definitely overdone it a handful of times, and I’ve just been, like, wandering on the street like, “Everybody knows I’m high,” and it’s so panicked and so scary. I’ve never felt that way when I’ve gotten too drunk.

What’s the best type of customer?

I would say somebody with an open mind a nonjudgmental palate. People come in with preconceptions about what they think certain liquors are like—what they think certain beers are. So, they come in like, “Oh I hate anything with gin.” They probably only have had one really disgusting gin drink. So the best kind of customer is someone who comes in and they’re like, “What do you like? Tell me why you like it.”

The worst?

The worst type of customer would probably be someone that comes in to, like, secretly test you. For someone who hasn’t been in the bartending industry for super long, you have people that come in and … they will start like asking you about certain liquors and certain drinks and you realize they already know the answer. They’re just trying to make you feel bad and then you get flustered and then they judge you for how you might make a drink or like, you know, “I make this better.”

Which is better for a night out?

Definitely alcohol. Alcohol traditionally has created spaces where people can spend time together. I suffer from social anxiety, and so having a drink right before I go out helps me relax. And I know everyone’s different. For some people marijuana does that for them—it doesn’t for me. It makes me feel like I need to stay home and hide.

Joey Parazo

bartender at Royce

What’s your favorite product that you serve?

Probably our burger.

Which goes better with food, weed or booze?

I’d say alcohol just because I tend to think of food, or a food experience, as including whatever you’re drinking as well—be that alcohol or not. Like, whenever I think of what I’m going to be making for dinner, usually I’m thinking of pairings for that. So, I’ll be thinking, you know, depending on what it is, like wine or maybe some beer that goes good with it.

Which goes better with music?

I think I kind of lean more towards alcohol in that one, too. I have collected records since I was, like, 12, and one of my daily rituals would be to put a platter on and have some whiskey or something like that at the end of the day. It’s relaxing.

Which one’s worse to have too much of?

That’s a tough one. I feel like if I’ve been drinking already, if I have even the slightest bit of marijuana, it really sends me over. Even if it’s just something low-THC, it’s harder for me to gauge what’s too much with marijuana as opposed to alcohol.

What’s the best type of customer?

Easygoing people, people that aren’t afraid to ask questions. I feel like guiding somebody who has no frame of reference into what they like, it’s really hard sometimes to walk them through it.

The worst?

Yeah, just either indecisive or customers that are completely in the dark. [They’ve] never been to a party before and need the full, like, 4-1-1 walkthrough, I guess.

Which is better for a night out?

It’s been my experience that I just tend to get hungry and sleepy on marijuana. So, I’d say alcohol.

Davis Goicochea

budtender at BlÜm

What’s your favorite product that you serve?

I would say, like, vape products. That would be for the ease of use and kind of concerns about cannabis that I feel like you don’t have to worry about the smell mostly.

Which goes better with food, weed or booze?

I like to have alcohol as part of a culinary experience. I think it brings a little more as far as a pairing with a meal. I’m not a fan of wine, but beers I love to have as just a tasting experience, or to have with food. I think alcohol is always better personally, but at the same time, um, if you were to smoke the cannabis before and have the effect before eating the meal, I think it’s a great pairing as well. … And I’m not a fan of edibles personally, so I don’t see that as part a cannabis culinary experience at all.

Which goes better with music?

I’d probably rather have a smoke, just being biased to being a cannabis user in general. Alcohol gives me a nice relaxed feeling, but I feel like the more I use it, the more it takes me out of my interactive type of experience—which is what I want to have with music. And I feel like cannabis elevates that.

Which one’s worse to have too much of?

I’ve definitely had some pretty terrible experiences off of too much alcohol, physically. Of course, cannabis, too much has also been bad. Sometimes physically, but not to the extent of alcohol.

What’s the best type of customer?

I want someone that just feels comfortable, because I feel like it’s part of the industry’s job to just create the industry right now, as we’re growing. I think sometimes [people] either feeling rushed or not feeling like everything’s OK to ask. If someone can feel the most comfortable to where they’re their truest self while they’re in our store, I think that would be the best type of customer I could have. I wish I had those people all day long.

The worst?

I think people with bad manners … it’s not the worst type of customer. I think it’s just something that you notice. But other than that, I don’t know. People that are closed-minded, I guess. We frequently are changing products all the time because again, with the industry growing, nothing’s necessarily solid yet. If you’re open to trying new stuff, you might just, you know, walk out unhappy more often than you would not.

Which is better for a night out?

I think it depends on the group that you’re with. I feel like alcohol, it kind of goes well with everyone’s social outing, in my experience. I think smoking for me sometimes, as much as it heightens my interactive experiences, it can make me a little bit tired in a social setting and end my night earlier. I wouldn’t mix the two.

Eden Wakefield

Budtender at Sierra Well

What’s your favorite product that you serve?

Definitely RSO—Ruth Simpson Oil. So that is an activated concentrate of the cannabis plant, kind of like essential oil, but activated, meaning that it’s heated to a specific temperature for a specific amount of time that causes the chemicals that are already in the plant to convert into what we know as THC and the other thing things, CBD and everything like that. So, once it’s heated up, it’s already ingestible and you don’t have to light it with a lighter or put it into a vape pan or anything like that.

Which goes better with food, weed or booze?Well that depends. Cause I make food with cannabis, but I always drink wine with my food, so I don’t know. Probably a drink, honestly. As long as it was just red wine. I’m really careful with alcohol, but you know, if it’s out to dinner, definitely a drink I think.

Which goes better with music?

Cannabis for sure. Just because it opens up different parts of your mind that make it so that you can experience music from a different, maybe, perspective or viewpoint. And it just is fun—depending on the strain, depending on the song. So, with alcohol, it’s kind of always just one feeling.

Which one’s worse to have too much of?

Definitely alcohol—without a doubt. I mean the obvious, you know, statistically speaking, alcohol kills and cannabis doesn’t. And just knowing from my own my own behavior and experience, what I’m willing to do, what I find myself letting go of in terms of my values or whatever, when I drink versus smoking, it’s a huge difference.

What’s the best type of customer?

They’re friendly and they ask questions, and then they take your suggestions. Because usually you’re going to know, as a budtender, what’s best because you’ve tried everything you can and there’s a lot of things that we don’t even have time to explain to customers, let alone what we necessarily want to speak up about from a professional standpoint about why we like or dislike certain products. So, it’s almost like you just want to go with that person’s experience and just trust it.

The worst?

The ones that are irate. They get upset over the fact that we’re out of specific strains. They don’t understand about a law we have: This is a clone-only state. So, strains diminish in THC quality over time in what they can put out. So, a grower will have to find a new mother plant before they can start up with that specific strain again. People get really mad at us and they say, “Why aren’t you carrying that anymore?” We’ll say, “They’re not growing it anymore.”

Which is better for a night out?

I would say cannabis just because it’s safer. A lot safer. Just in terms of statistically speaking, it’d be a lot better to have a lot of people out smoking it up, and there’s enough different kinds of strains and types of ingestion that you could mix up to get sufficiently inebriated for a night of fun but not be dangerous.

Ryan Gearhart

budtender at Sierra Well

What’s your favorite product that you serve?

I would say it’s probably going to be one of our ratioed products—something with THC and CBD—because I get the most testimonials and feedback on that. And that’s where I think part of the differential is, you don’t really look at alcohol like, “Oh, can you treat my sore elbow with this tequila?”

Which goes better with food, weed or booze?

I would say cannabis because it motivates you to eat. I’ve always been a terrible eater to be honest. It’s a weird, weird thing. I’m just saying I don’t like have an appetite often, and so I often just don’t eat much … it’s just to have the motivation to enjoy your food. That’s kind of where I’m going with it.

Which goes better with music?

Cannabis. No question. There are certain songs that you will experience, like, right as you’re lifting off, let’s say, that just leave an imprint. I have a few songs that I just, to this day, will listen to them because they’re so much more profound on that level.

Which one’s worse to have too much of?

You can crutch pretty easily on cannabis. You can start using it too frequently and lose the leverage of what it’s offering you. But I’d say alcohol simply because, in my experience, your judgment drops drastically and you start thinking, “Six drinks? That’s nothing man.”

What’s the best type of customer?

A customer that has a general idea of what they’re looking for. … [they don’t] necessarily have to be a master of it by any means, but they can give you something that allows us to help guide them along.

The worst?

There’s definitely a sect of people that just like—I think they don’t have any people to talk to or they just want to come in out of the cold, and suddenly they hang out, then want to look at everything. They don’t have much budget, so it’s tough, you know, to accommodate.

Which is better for a night out?

Alcohol. Now again, I think it’s a more socially lubricating tool, in the proper setting of course. But in my experience, I feel like you can definitely bond with people that are passing a joint around or something.

Diana Beauregard

budtender at Kanna

What’s your favorite product that you serve?

My personal favorite is the flower. Right now, [my favorite strain is] “Horchata.” It’s really flavorful, clearheaded, but also gives me the pain relief I’m seeking.

Which goes better with food, weed or booze?

It depends on the food. So 24-seven, I like to consume cannabis, so it’s always good with food. But I also like to have a Jack and Coke with my tacos or a Modelo, you know, so it just depends.

Which goes better with music?

Concerts, I have to consume cannabis before, but I definitely drink during. It’s just safer to have for me to use cannabis just because I am a little extreme when I’m drinking.

Which one’s worse to have too much of?

Definitely alcohol. I’ve never had too much cannabis. I think maybe once out of the 30, 25 years or whatever, once or twice maybe. And that was probably a street brownie or something. Not anything that I bought from a dispensary.

What’s the best type of customer?

The elders, because they’re seeking pain relief for whatever ails them. If they don’t like to smoke, they can always take tinctures or the edibles, and they come in the next day happy. And they like that where, “I want that a little bit stronger, but that is what I’m looking for.”

The worst?

It’s hard to make somebody else’s mind up for them because they’re looking for that 28, 29, 30 percent THC. Sometimes we don’t have it. … I’ll be like, “Well have you tried the concentrate? Because, you know, we can make this happen for you.”… They’re easy because they’re in and out like, whatever, OK, go ahead and pick the high THC … And [then] they come in the next time like, “We didn’t like that one.” I was like, “OK, but I tried to tell you this one’s going to be better for you.”

Which is better for a night out?

It just depends. Because if I want to party all night, I’m definitely going to have Jack and Cokes all night to get me going. But I’m still consuming weed the whole time. So, I don’t know.